Miscellaneous Website Design Tips

1. Design your site at 1024×768 screen resolution to ensure that your entire web page is displayed on the majority of your visitors’ browsers. (Set your margins to zero. Pixel count should be at a maximum of 900 pixels wide.) There will be some white space at higher resolutions, but if you use this resolution, the majority of your visitors will never need to use a horizontal scroll bar. If your visitor must use horizontal scrolling they may become annoyed, possibly causing them to click away from your site. Test your site at different resolutions. PLEASE NOTE: The lowest resolution you should use is 800×600 pixels.
2. Every page should have a prominent title and that title should match the link to that particular page.
3. Include your site name using either a graphical logo or text on every page. Make sure it links back to the home page just in case your visitor clicks on it.
4. Your site design and images should tie in with your site name.
5. Use Java sparingly. Use Javascript instead if possible.
6. If you use a pop-up window for your newsletter/e-zine subscription form or for special offers, use a JavaScript that sets a cookie on your visitor’s computer. The pop-up will only show up on your visitor’s first visit to your site and they won’t be annoyed by seeing the pop-up more than once.
7. If you use frames, use them sparingly. Poor usage of frames makes your site look unprofessional. It’s also difficult for search engines to index web pages consisting of frames.
8. Use tables or CSS to neatly align your links.
9. Try to make every page on your website no more than three clicks away from the homepage. Design your site wide, not deep.
10. Repeat the navigational links on every web page.
11. On every werb page, include a “Home” link which takes the visitor back to the home page.
12. If appropriate for your site, use a “breadcrumb trail”. Ex: You Are Here>Home Page>Main Category>Subcategory>Content. Always include “You Are Here” so your visitors know exactly where they are on your website.
13. If your site is large, include a site search form at the top of each page.
14. Check all your links at least once weekly to eliminate any broken links.
15. Always include links to your Legal Statements such as your Terms of Service, Disclaimer, Legal Information, Privacy Policy, Contact Information, etc. at the bottom of every web page. If your website sells a product or service or has a link to a site that does, include a Compensation Disclaimer. PLEASE NOTE: This is required by US Law!
16. Cross link relevant pages. Ex: Link your “FAQ” page to your “Contact Us” page as your “FAQ” page might answer your visitor’s question.
17. Your buttons or links should lead to important information which explains the content of your website in more depth.
18. Minimize the number of hyperlinks you use in your text.
19. Offer your visitors a PFP (printer friendly page) website by installing a free CGI program.
20. Be consistent with your background theme on every page of your website.
21. When you set the font typefaces for your site, use 3 to 4 options. If your first font choice is not available, one of the others can be utilized by your visitor’s browser. The easiest font to read on-line is Arial while the most web friendly font is Verdana as it is wide and easy to read. Avoid using small serif fonts such as Times Roman.
22. Always use both Arial and Helvetica when you set your font tags so that your website is viewable by both Windows and Mac users.
23. Use different font sizes in your content. This enables your visitor to change the font size in their browser (which is very useful for people with vision problems).
24. Be consistent as to font types and sizes throughout your website.
25. Use a maximum of 3 text colors plus a highlighting color. For example black text, red text for emphasis, blue text for less emphasis, and yellow for highlighting. Dark text on a light background is the easiest for your visitor to read.
26. If you use an icon, place explanatory text below it. Ex: If you use a picture of a house to denote your home page link, include the word “Home” below the graphic.
27. Set alternative, descriptive text in all of your images. If your visitor has turned off graphics, the text will appear in place of the image. Also, if your visitor is visually impaired, their screen reader will be able to read the text. Always include one of your keywords in the alternative text tag .
28. Always use JPG (JPEG) format for photos and GIF or PNG for web images and clipart.
29. Use enhanced features such as Flash efficiently and SPARINGLY. Give your visitors a “no flash” option.
30. If you use a table, set the width in percentages, not in pixels. This will allow the table to adjust its size to the browser window. An exception to this would be if you use a table to anchor an image such as a header graphic. In this case, you would use pixels for all of the tables on your site.
31. If you want a border around a table, use a colored border of size 1 or 2 or use CSS for a dotted or dashed border. Using a standard black border looks unprofessional.
32. Check, double check and recheck your content for spelling and grammatical errors. Even one error will be apparent to your visitors and make your site look unprofessional. Use a spell checker and have someone else proofread your copy.
33. Your website should be simple but aesthetically pleasing. Subconsciously, visitors will associate your product’s quality with how your website looks.
34. Jazz up your web pages by using bold headlines, highlighting, colored table cells, and graphical arrows and/or bullets.
35. Use the same graphical bullets, arrows, dividers, etc. throughout your site to cut down on loading time as the graphic only needs to load once for multiple instances.
36. If you would like an image to be displayed as soon as the web page loads, place this code in your head tags :

Change image.gif to the name and extension of the image that you want to load immediately.
37. Encourage feedback from your visitors by including an anonymous on-line contact form and email link.

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Plenty! Why does the Bible tell us to do this? Because it works! No, Iâm not saying you should pray for more customers, I have a better idea. Simply put, if you are wondering what your market wants the most, ask them, then give it to them! Letâs take a look at how to apply it to your business.

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Plenty! Why does the Bible tell us to do this? Because it works! No, Iâm not saying you should pray for more customers, I have a better idea. Simply put, if you are wondering what your market wants the most, ask them, then give it to them! Letâs take a look at how to apply it to your business.

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